Behind-ear hearing aid



July 17, 1962 c. s. VICKERSON BEHIND-EAR HEARING AID Filed May 11, 1960INVEN TOR: (#42155. V/cL Mm/v BY M ATTORNEYS United States Patent Office3,045,073 Patented July 177, 1962 3,045,073 BEHIND-EAR HEARING AIDCharles S. Vickerson, 26 OFarrell St., San Francisco, Calif.

Filed May 11, 1960, Ser. No. 28,292

1 Claim. (Cl. 179107) This invention relates to a hearing aid and moreparticularly a self-contained hearing aid which is wholly supported onthe ear of the wearer. Self-supporting hearing aids have been proposedin the past, but have not been fully satisfactory. On-the-ear hearingaids which have been proposed in the past generally have comprised achamber containing the microphone, amplifier, battery, transducer andassociated equipment of such configuration that they are supported by arelatively thin member over the top of the ear, the bulk of the aidlying behind the ear and portions of it extending below the lobe of theear. Such aids have a number of defects. In the first place, it isnecessary to locate the microphone at some point behind the ear canal sothat the microphone is fully or partially shielded by the ear and bodyof the wearer. In many instances, such as in a restaurant, such an aidwill do a good job of picking up sounds coming from the rear, but thewearer will be unable to hear persons sitting across from. A furtherdefect is that such an aid has a relative small member above the carwhile the bulk of the aid is behind the ear, putting a considerableamount of pressure on the ear and leading to sore ears. Still anotherdefect of such devices is that they are quite conspicuous when worn bywomen. Normal hair styles frequently come to the ear canal, but it isdifficult to provide a suitable hair style which extends a substantialdistance below the lobe of the ear which is necessary to conceal suchdevices.

In accordance with the present invention, a hearing aid device isprovided which is battery operated and which is balanced on top of theear. The device has a micro phone which faces substantially forward sothat sounds coming from the front of the wearer are most readily pickedup and amplified. Further, the device of the present invention extendsonly about half-way down the height of the ear and little, any, belowthe ear canal. Thus, the device is particularly inconspicuous when wornby women.

Other objects and features of advantage of the present invention will bebrought out in the balance of the specification which follows.

In the drawing forming part of this application :v

FIGURE 1 is a perspective view of a preferred embodiment of the presentinvention showing its use on a wearer.

FIGURE 2 is an enlarged view, partly in section, of the hearing aidshown in FIGURE 1.

FIGURE 3 is a partial sectional view on the lines 33 of FIGURE 2.

FIGURE 4 is a partial sectional view, similar to FIG- URE 3, showing analternate microphone and grill location.

FIGURE 5 is a schematic diagram of the electrical connections.

Referring now to a description of the drawing by reference characters,the hearing aid is generally designated 5 and has an arcuate casefitting between the head of the wearer and the top and rear of the helix100 and fossa 112 of the helix of the ear of the wearer. The case has afront portion 16 extending only about as far forward as the forwardmostportion of the helix of the ear and has a bottom portion which extendsdown no farther behind the helix and antihelix 114 of the car then thelevel of the tragus 116 of the wearer. The bottom wall of the case 8 isrounded to conform to the ear shape of the normal wearer. The case isdivided internally into a plurality of compartments formed by a seriesof bulkheads 12 and 14 which serve to isolate the various components andalso to strengthen the case. In the area designated 16, there is shownone or more generally horizontal openings or a grillwork permittingsound to enter. This is located immediately above the forwardmostportion of the helix to permit sound to pass into the case. The rigid,hollow tube 10 passes downwardly in a generally vertical directionadjacent the forward-most portion of the helix in the direction of theorifice of the external auditory rneatus 118, the tube serving to carrysound toward the ear canal and to anchor the hearing aid in place.

In the front compartment 18 there is a microphone 20 which is positionedimmediately behind the aforementioned horizontal opening in the front ofthe case. The microphone is provided with circuit connector 22 leadingto the amplifier 24 which is in the compartment immediately behind thecompartment housing the microphone. The amplifier may be of anyconventional type. A suitable battery 26 and a battery holder 28 areprovided. The volume control having a knob 30 extending partially out ofthe case [for manual operation is conveniently provided with a suitableon-olf switch as may be the battery holder'28. Electrical connectorsalso join the battery compartment and the volume control to theamplifier.

The amplified signal from the amplifier is led to the transducer 32which is preferably located as shown near the bottom of the unit. Thetransducer is provided with a hollow sound-conducting tube 34 whichprovides communication between the transducer and the rigid,downwardly-extending tube 10 on the front of the case, where by toconvey sound from the transducer to the rigid, downwardly-extendingtube. The hollow tube 34, which is preferably of a soft, resilientnature such as polyethylene, passes immediately adjacent and beneath themicrophone as does the uppermost end of rigid tube 10,

the latter being provided with a threaded connection 36 to which isconnected a hollow, flexible tube 38 extending downwardly from the frontof the .case to about the level of the tragus. The lowermost end of thetube 38 has somewhat more flexible plastic tube 40 leading to the earmold 42 which may be inserted in the ear orifice. The tube 38 can bebent with the slight application of heat and will retain the position towhich it is bent so that it can be bent to secure a good fit on anyparticular wearer.

Although the grill is preferably located directly in front of the aid,it can be located partially on the front and partially on the side as isthe grill 44 shown in FIG- URE 4. In this case, the microphone may bemounted sideways in the unit as at 46 lending itself to the productionof extremely compact aid.

It has been found, surprising enough, that the soft tubing confines thesound in such a manner that there is no feed-back [from the amplifiedsound in the tube 34 to the microphone 20 despite the fact that the tube34 passes directly beside or under the microphone. Further, the factthat the tubing forms a smooth curve prevents standing waves and/orreflections. Although the sides of the case may be made essentiallyfiat, so that the aid can be used on either the right or the left ear,the aid can be contoured to provide a better fit with the side of thehead in which case right and left-hand aids are preferably provided. Thesound conducting tube may be located near the center of the device, asat 47, or may be to one side, as at 48. The case-is preferably made intwo mating sections for ease of assembly and servicing and may separateas in the line 50.

A suitable circuit diagram is shown in FIGURE 5. The electrical signalfrom microphone 20 passes to the twostage amplifier 54. Battery supply26 is provided with conductors 56 and 58 and is applied to the firststage of the output section (transistor-amplifier stage 54a) andamplified in the second stage (transistor-amplifier stage 5412) beforebeing applied to the transducer 32. The volume control 30 is of thefeedback type, which is the reason for indicating it as connectingbetween 54a and 54b in FIGURE 5.

Although the exact arrangement of parts shown is preferred, the exactconfiguration need not be employed so long as the microphone is mountedsomewhere toward the front of the unit and the bulk of the unit rests ontop of the ear. Thus, the position occupied by the amplifier, battery,volume control and transducer can be transposed as desired, or theamplifier and transducer may occupy the same compartment.

Obviously many modifications and variations of the invention ashereinbefore set forth may be made without departing from the spirit andscope thereof, and therefore only such limitations should be imposed asare indicated in the appended claims.

I claim:

A self-contained hearing aid adapted to be supported by the ear of theuser, said aid, when in use in a normal upright position comprising:

(a) an arcuate case fitting between the head of the wearer and the topand rear of the helix and fossa of the helix of the ear of the wearerand having a front portion extending only about as far forward as theforwardmost portion of the helix of the ear, said case having a bottomportion extending downwardly behind the helix and antihelix of the earto a level not lower than the level of the tragus of the wearer;

(b) a plurality of compartments in the said case formed by a series ofbulkheads therein;

() at least a single generally horizontal aperture at the front of saidcase immediately above the forwardmost portion of the helix to permitsound to pass into said case;

(d) a rigid hollow tube on the front of the said case,

said tube passing downwardly in a generally vertical direction adjacentthe forwardmost portion of the helix in the direction of the orifice ofthe external auditory meatus, said tube serving to carry sound towardthe ear canal and to anchor said hearing aid in place;

(e) a microphone in the said case immediately behind the said horizontalopening in the front thereof;

(f) an amplifier in one of the said compartments formed within the saidcase;

(g) a volume control in another of the said compartments, said volumecontrol having a control knob extending partially out of the said casefor manual operation;

(It) a transducer in another of the said compartments rearwardly of thesaid first compartment, said transducer having a hollow sound conductingtube providing communication between the said transducer and the saidrigid downwardly leading tube on the front of the said case whereby toconvey sound from the said transducer to the said rigid downwardlyleading tube, said hollow sound conducting tmbe from the said transducerpassing immediately adjacent and beneath the said microphone;

(i) a hollow flexible tube extending from the said rigid downwardlyleading tube in the front of the said case to about the level of thesaid tragus;

(j) an ear mold secured to the end of the said flexible tube adjacentthe said tragus for insertion in the said orifice;

(k) and circuit connectors joining said microphone,

amplifier, volume control and transducer.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS2,613,282 Scaife Oct. 7, 1952 2,856,466 Gustafson Oct. 14, 158 2,882,348Erickson Apr. 14, 1959

